before. With lowliest reverence he saluted the prophet, and then received command to announce his presence to Ahab.

But timid and only partially enlightened, although God-fearing, as Obadiah was, this was no welcome mes sage to him.

Ahab had so long and so systematically sought for Elijah, that Obadiah could only imagine the prophet had been

miraculously removed from shelter to shelter, just in time to save him from being detected by the messengers of Ahab.

In point of fa ct, we know that such was not the case; but those who have lost the habit of seeing God in the ordinary

Providence of everyday life - as is the case with all who are conformed to the world - are too often in the habit of

looking for things strange, or for miracles, and thus become at the same time superstitious and unbelieving. What - so

argued Obadiah - if, after he had intimated Elijah's presence to the king, the prophet were once more miraculously

removed? Would he not have to pay with his life for Elija h's escape; would not suspicious Ahab or bloodthirsty Jezebel

wreak their vengeance on him as an abettor of the prophet? Most groundless fears these, as all which are prompted by

the faint-heartedness of partially enlightened piety; and so Elijah hastened to assure him, not, as it seems to us, without

a touch of pitying reproof. The meeting which followed between the king of Israel and the representative of Jehovah

was characteristic of each. It is a mistake to suppose, as interpreters generally do, that the words with which Ahab

accosted Elijah, "Art thou the one2 who troubleth Israel?" were intended to frighten the prophet by a display of

authority.

Even Ahab could not have imagined that such would be their effect. It seems rather like an appeal. See wh at thou hast

done; and what now? In truth, a man such as Ahab must have felt it difficult to know how to address the prophet. But

Elijah was not, even momentarily, to be drawn into a personal controversy. With a sharp reproof, which pointed out

that it was not he but the sin of Ahab and of his house which had brought trouble upon Israel, he directed the king to

gather unto Mount Carmel the representatives of all Israel, as well as the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of

Astarte who enjoyed the special favor of the queen.

Putting aside for the moment the thought of the overruling guidance of God in the matter, it is not difficult to

understand why Ahab complied with Elijah's direction. Naturally he could not have anticipated what turn matters

would take. Certain it was that the land was in a terrible strait from which, if any one, Elijah alone could deliver it.

Should he provoke him to fresh judgments by a refusal? What was there to fear from one unarmed man in presence of a

hostile assembly? If Elijah could remove the curse, it was worth any temporary concession; if he refused or failed, the

controversy with him would be easily settled, and that with popular approbation. Besides these, there may have been

other secondary reasons for Ahab's compliance. As we have noticed, Jezebel was not then in Samaria; and Ahab may

have felt that secret misgiving which is often the outcome of superstition rather than of partial belief. Lastly, he may at

the moment have been under the influence of the overawing power of Elijah. It could scarcely have been otherwise in

the circumstances.

That day Carmel witnessed one of the grandest scenes in the history of Israel. Three such scenes on mountain -tops

stand out before the mind: the first on Mount Sinai, when the Covenant was made by the ministry of Moses; the second

on Mount Carmel, when the Covenant was restored by the ministry of Elijah; the third on "the Mount of

Transfiguration," when Moses and Elijah bare worshipful witness to the Christ in Whom and by Whom the Covenant

was completed, transfigured, and transformed. In each case the scene on the Mount formed the high point in the life

and mission of the agent employed, from which henceforth there was a descent, save in the history of Christ, where the

descent to Gethsemane was in reality the commencement of the ascent to the Right Hand of God. Moses died and was

buried at the Hand of God, Elijah went up with chariot of fire; Jesus died on the cross. Yet whereas from the mountain -

top Moses and Elijah really descended, so far as their work and mission were concerned, the seeming descent of Jesus

was the real ascent to the topmost height of His work and glory.

No spot in Palestine is more beautiful, more bracing, or healthful than Carmel, "the Park-like." Up in the nort hwest, it

juts as a promontory into the Mediterranean, rising to a height of five hundred feet. Thence it stretches about twelve

miles to the S.S.E., rising into two other peaks. The first of these, about four miles from the promontory, is not less than

1740 feet high. Still further to the south -east is a third peak, 1687 feet high,3 which to this day bears the name of El-

Mahrakah, or "place of burning" (sacrifice).

This, there can scarcely be a doubt, was the place of Elijah's sacrifice. Let us try to re alize the scene. On whichever side

the mountain be ascended, the scene is one of unsurpassed beauty. The rich red soil, where not cultivated, is covered by

a thick brushwood of luxurious evergreens. Not only flowering trees and delicious fragrant herbs, but all the flora of the